


The Dog Days (Have Just Begun)

by Demenior



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: But with a puppy, Dogs, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, One Big Happy Family, Slice of Life, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-13 05:34:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10507323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demenior/pseuds/Demenior
Summary: Shiro was left unattended for five minutes and he picked up another stray. This time it's a puppy.A story of a boy, his mismatched family, his alien boyfriend, and his new dog.[Give Shiro a dog 2k17]





	1. Impulse Purchase

**Author's Note:**

> This story is completely inspired by, started from, and lovingly dedicated to [Bosstoaster](http://bosstoaster.tumblr.com) (aka ChaoticReactions, here on Ao3)
> 
> Check out her [Dog Daddies in Space](http://bosstoaster.tumblr.com/tagged/Dog-Daddies-in-Space) tag, which started this whole thing. Be sure to read it all, as it sets up a bunch of things I'm only hinting at here! Plus, Boss only needs about a third of the words it takes me to get the same humor and heartwarming feels across. Without her, and yelling about Shiro + dogs with one another and trading ideas, I would have never started writing this and never would have used any of the great ideas that Boss came up with. (Thank you again for letting me run with this!!)
> 
> This story is non-linear, will be updated periodically, and is 100% open to prompts and suggestions. It was also written as study-break/de-stressing between 3 exams in like 48 hours. Apologies for any incoherence.

The marketplace is chaos. The kind of chaos Shiro misses. It’s loud, packed with aliens of all sorts, and filled with all sorts of smells that Shiro can never tell if he smells something pleasant or awful. It reminds him of open markets back in some of the places he’d visited on Earth, haggling with the sellers for a good price and tasting various samples of whatever was offered. Open meat is on display, flies and other bugs swarm in the sweaty, humid heat. Ulaz is leading the way, and while he has his hood up to help disguise his Galra features, the crowds still part for someone of his size and stature. Shiro follows in his wake, and has half a mind to hold onto his belt loops to keep from getting separated.

They are grocery shopping, essentially. The Castle is parked a few miles out of town, down for some routine maintenance far from a Galra-occupied planet. Not that this planet hasn’t been absorbed into the Empire, but the Empire’s eyes skip over a planet like this. With everyone busy with tasks on the ship, Shiro had leapt at the opportunity to go explore a bit. And he had the perfect excuse to bring Ulaz along, since Shiro needed someone to help him translate and learn local customs. And buy him a few treats.

Ulaz is focused with that tunnel-vision intensity of his. He isn’t as big a fan of the heat as Shiro is, and they’ve already wasted time sampling several fruits and things Shiro has been curious about. If Ulaz would just relax a little then this could practically be a date.

Shiro’s not sure what else is on the list—Hunk and Coran had put it together which meant it was all Greek to Shiro—but Ulaz is determined to find it so they can start heading home. It means that Ulaz doesn’t notice when Shiro pauses, and looks around. He thought he’d heard?

No, it couldn’t be.

Shiro shakes his head, almost laughing at himself, and then follows after Ulaz. He’s lucky he can still see the tall Galra.

There it is again. A whimper. A squeak.

It sounds like a dog. Like a puppy.

Shiro glances at where Ulaz is still striding forwards, cutting through the crowd. He takes note of the direction. Ulaz won’t be too hard to catch up to. Shiro’s only going to look for a second.

Shiro ducks down a line of stalls, keeping his ears peeled for the sound.

He finds it sitting in a basket. It’s so… earth cliché that he can’t believe it. It almost makes him feel homesick. The thing is a ball of fur with four feet that barely stick out of the fluff. It’s pudgy and fat, with a thick muzzle and a big, dark nose. It’s got two stubby tails, four eyes, and at least six fat toes on each foot.

But it’s a puppy.

“Can I hold it?” Shiro asks before he has time to process anything beyond _Puppy! Puppy! Puppy!_

He’s already reaching for it, so he’s surprised when he gets a slap to the back of his hand.

“I know it’s small, but this is still prime, wild Yagerian,” the seller says, “no offense, but it’s too easy to get robbed, y’know? You ever seen one of these before?”

Shiro can barely take his eyes off of the puppy.

“Um, no,” he says, “it just… reminded me of something similar back home.”

The puppy lifts its head and its eyes are scrunched closed. It’s got folded over little nubs for ears. In fact, if it were a regular earth puppy, it looks way too young to be taken from its mother. Its head is too big and it flops onto its side with a squeak.

“Well, these little guys provide you everything you want. They imprint well so they don’t wander, can’t do much damage while they’re this small—”

Shiro’s not thinking about adopting it, is he? He’s barely paying attention to the vendor. The puppy has opened an eye and is looking up at him.

“And depending on how fat you get it, you’ll get a few months of eating off one like this.”

Shiro looks back up at him. He can’t have heard that right.

“Eating?” he asks slowly.

“You’ve never had Yagerian meat?” the vendor says, astonished, “it’s a delicacy. But only the wild stuff—just harvested this litter myself. Like I said, they sell fast and this is my last one.”

Shiro looks down at the puppy, “You eat this?”

“Gotta eat it before it grows up, then they get nasty. Is the stuff where you’re from the same?” the seller asks.

Shiro shrugs, “Um, yeah. They get eaten in some places but they’re mostly considered companion animals.”

“Well, let me tell you, this is a wild animal. My cousin got eaten by one while harvesting the kits just two years ago.”

“I’m sorry,” Shiro says automatically.

The puppy is being sold as meat. It was stolen from its family and its home and now it’s lying in a basket in a loud and scary market, just waiting to get eaten.

The puppy is looking at him and squeaks again, stretching a chubby multi-toed paw up at him.

Shiro nods in understanding.

* * *

Ulaz looks a mix between furious and outright relief when Shiro finds him.

“What happened? I turned around and you were gone and I wasn’t sure if—what’s in your shirt?”

“Funny story,” Shiro says slowly, and unzips his vest so the puppy’s head sticks out. The vendor had told him to keep the puppy out of sight, or risk getting robbed. After tucking it into his vest, the little guy was content to go right to sleep.

Ulaz narrows his eyes, “What is that?”

“A dog,” Shiro says.

“We don’t need ‘a dog’,” Ulaz says, and even glances at the grocery list just to make sure.

“I bought it,” Shiro says carefully, “because I want a dog.”

“It’s an impulse purchase?” Ulaz realizes, “what is it for?”

“Me,” Shiro replies quickly, “us,” he adds tentatively, “but I couldn’t leave it. Look at it!”

He can barely keep himself from _not_ petting the puppy. It’s so soft and cute, but he doesn’t want to freak it out more than it already is.

“I see it,” Ulaz says, and blinks slowly, “I don’t understand its purpose.”

“A pet,” Shiro explains, “on earth lots of people get a dog. It’s like a friend, I guess? A companion?”

Ulaz frowns, “I see,” he says coldly, “well, I can’t stop you when you’ve made up your mind. But you’re going to deal with Allura about it.”

Shiro’s not sure how Ulaz can look mad about a _puppy_.

“She’s gonna love you, I know she will,” he tells the puppy, and tucks it back into his shirt. He smiles the whole trip home.

* * *

Shiro’s plan was to smuggle the puppy into his room first. He’d have to gauge Allura and Coran’s reactions to make sure he’d be able to convince them to let him keep it.

As soon as he set foot in the hangar, Hunk looked up from where he was cleaning up his workspace.

“How’d it go?” he called, and then he made a weird face that Shiro couldn’t quite understand, “um… really well, I’m assuming?”

Oh, well. Shiro’s grinning like a lunatic and standing there clutching his chest. He’d be giving himself weird looks too.

“Keep a secret?” Shiro offers.

Hunk nods slowly. Shiro unzips his vest enough to pull it back to reveal the napping puppy.

Hunk’s eyes widen to comical sizes, “Oh my god. Is that— it’s so cute. Oh my god where did you— wait. You got it?”

Shiro can’t stop smiling, and nods, “Yeah. I, uh, rescued it.”

“That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen,” Hunk stresses, “but like, um, where are you going to keep it?”

Shiro shrugs, “I’ll figure it out.”

It’s then that Coran notices them and pops in to see what all the secrecy and smiling is about.

* * *

Allura narrows her eyes at the puppy like it’s something dangerous.

“You want to have an animal in your living quarters,” she says slowly, as if she can’t comprehend the idea.

“Yeah,” Shiro says, “a pet. I feed it, I care for it, it’s mine.” He finally took the puppy out of his vest to talk to Allura, and it’s sleeping in his arms now.

Allura looks a tag disgusted at the idea, “If… if you’re sure you want this.”

“Look at it!” Pidge nearly shouts, “It’s so fat!”

“Is anyone else concerned about the fact that it’s a wild animal?” Lance asks, “As in, it could eat us?”

“This little guy isn’t gonna eat anyone,” Hunk replies.

“Well, it if tries to eat us we’ll just eat it,” Keith shrugs.

Everyone pauses to stare at him aghast. Shiro clutches the puppy tighter to his chest.

“Dude, you can’t just threaten to eat Shiro’s dog,” Lance tells him.

“I didn’t! And why do you care? You don’t even like it!” Keith protests.

“How could anyone say anything bad about something so cute,” Pidge baby-talks at the puppy.

It yawns widely, squeaking a little as it does so, and Shiro forgets about the argument completely.

“I’m keeping it,” he announces, “and I need to go get my room set up.”

* * *

Shiro splits his time between his room in the Paladin barracks and Ulaz’s room. When Ulaz is on board he usually sleeps with him, but when Ulaz is away on a mission Shiro goes back to his old room. He’s more available for the team, plus he doesn’t like the idea of sleeping alone. It’s nice to be able to hear the murmur of Lance’s sleep-talk or Hunk’s snoring through the walls.

The thin walls are also the reason that Ulaz never sleeps over in Shiro’s room. At least, not anymore, since they were politely asked to, well, be quieter.

He’s procured a box with a little help from Hunk, and Pidge stole him a pillow from somewhere. Shiro makes one final trip to his room to find some spare clothes— he barely has any, so sparing any is already a stretch, but he’s willing to make those sacrifices— and then heads for Ulaz’s room.

Ulaz is stripped down to his waist, reclining and reading on his bed. He must have been suffering in the heat. The room is noticeably chill, which is how Ulaz likes it, and Shiro hugs the puppy a little tighter while balancing the box of supplies on his hip.

“What are you doing?” Ulaz asks.

“Gotta set up a bed,” Shiro explains, “I think it was taken from its mom too young, so it’s gonna need a warm safe place. I think the guy said they lived in dens?”

Ulaz frowns, “So it has to be in here?”

“Where else would I put it? The hallway?” Shiro jokes.

“Yes,” Ulaz says.

“Do aliens not have pets?” Shiro asks, “I don’t get why you’re so mad about this. I’m sorry I went off the list.” It’s a stab in the dark but maybe Ulaz is upset about that?

Ulaz doesn't reply and goes back to his tablet.

Shiro busies himself setting up the box with the pillow, a blanket, and then his own shirt for smell, and makes it as cozy as he possibly can. The puppy is a warm weight in his lap, dozy and quiet save for the occasional squeak.

When he goes to tuck the puppy in it looks far too small. He makes sure to tuck his shirt in around it to keep it warm and wonders if they should shut off the lights. It's barely opened its eyes— maybe it's not ready for that yet or maybe the light is too bright still.

“Shiro,” Ulaz calls him.

Shiro doesn't look away from the sleeping puppy. It's starting to hit him that this is actually happening. He has a dog!

“Shh,” Shiro says, and then quietly, “yeah?”

“We have some time before dinner is served,” Ulaz says, not changing his volume.

Shiro turns to face him, uncertain of why that's supposed to mean and then he sees Ulaz’s face. Right. Shiro had made a promise earlier that if Ulaz helped him get the grocery shopping done, then they could have a little fun before dinner.

“We do, don't we,” Shiro agrees.

Shiro's not one to break his promises. He peels off his vest as he stands, and watches Ulaz light up with a toothy grin.

Ulaz sits up to lean against the headboard and Shiro crawls onto the bed. He stops a moment to pull off his shirt. He shivers in the chill, but then Ulaz’s warm hand is tugging at his hip. Shiro swings a leg over to straddle Ulaz like he's done plenty of times, and leans down for a kiss.

“I was beginning to worry you'd forgotten,” Ulaz admits.

“Of course not,” Shiro assures him.

Shiro had, in fact, forgotten. The puppy has all but possessed his brain.

Speaking of— he glances over at the box. It hasn't chirped in a while. Is it warm enough? What if it's hungry, or scared?

Ulaz’s firm fingers on his jaw redirect Shiro's gaze back to the half-naked Galra he's straddling.

“I want you with me,” Ulaz says. It's something he's said before, as a confession and a plea whispered in moments when Shiro's not entirely sure where his body is. Right now it sounds like a whine.

“I am,” Shiro says. There's really nowhere else he'd rather be.

“Good,” Ulaz agrees, and one of his hands comes around to squeeze the meat of Shiro’s ass, “because I have plans.”

Shiro can absolutely get on board with that. Instead of a witty response he kisses Ulaz again, and starts to run his hands down Ulaz’s chest.

They lose time to heavy petting, and get stuck in just touching one another. It feels like so much time and none at all have passed and Shiro's pants have only been pulled down to his thighs, and left there because neither of them want him to move to kick them off.

Ulaz is sucking what's probably going to be a new hickey (Ulaz claims he doesn't mark on purpose but Shiro knows his old hickey in that spot was almost faded), and Shiro's digging the blunt nails of his left hand into Ulaz’s shoulder while Ulaz grinds his broad palm against Shiro’s crotch in a way that's too rough and not enough and—

The basket across the room bursts into loud chirps and whistles.

Shiro jerks, and startled, Ulaz almost bites down on him. There's a cut, Shiro hisses, and Ulaz is already apologizing but,

“The puppy!” Shiro shouts. He'd almost forgotten it was there.

“It's fine,” Ulaz says, and he cups the back of Shiro's head to pull him back down for a kiss, “let it be.”

Shiro's nearly convinced to believe him, and the puppy chirps again.

“I need to check on it,” Shiro insists. He pushes Ulaz’s hand out of his pants, and makes to roll off of him. Ulaz grabs him and flips them so Shiro's pinned by him.

“It's fine,” Ulaz insists, “I need you more.”

“It'll only take a second,” Shiro says, and pushes Ulaz off.

Ulaz huffs and rolls off of him, flipping onto the bed. Shiro hops up and hikes his pants up as he makes his way across the room.

“Hey, what's up little guy?” Shiro asks. The puppy is crawling around on shaky legs. It doesn't know how to walk yet and keeps falling down on its oversized head.

It squeaks.

Shiro kneels down to pick it up and it starts making long, high-pitched noises like it's shouting.

“Make it stop!” Ulaz calls.

“What do you need?” Shiro asks. He tucks the puppy up against his neck, like it's a human baby, and pets it. It's still whimpering, and after a moment Shiro feels it licking him.

“Oh,” he realizes, “I think it's hungry.”

Shiro turns to Ulaz for help. He doesn't even know what these things eat.

“Dinner is soon. It can wait,” Ulaz says. He's getting his pants off, and taking in the long lines of his body is one of Shiro's favourite things to do— the puppy whimpers again.

“Just give me five minutes,” Shiro says, and grabs his vest off the floor, “I'll be right back.”

He gets out the door before Ulaz can convince him to stay.

* * *

Shiro finds Hunk in the kitchen, and between the two of them they tried to come up with something for the puppy to eat. At one point Hunk pauses, a little bashful, and informs Shiro that his fly is down. To which Shiro also realizes that he forgot to put his shirt on under his vest so he totally looks like he got dressed in a hurry, in the middle of the afternoon. It doesn’t take a genius to know what he was up to, but thankfully Hunk lets it slide.

Coran joins them, and the food seems more likely to kill them all than be fit for a tiny animal.

It’s Keith, summoned by the smell of fire and stunned to find the three of them standing over their creation deep in thought, who has the stroke of genius.

“Don’t babies eat, you know, baby food?” Keith asks after they explain the situation.

Shiro glances at Hunk for encouragement, and then back to Coran.

“Do you have something like baby formula, that you'd give to infants?” He asks. He can't believe he didn't think of that himself.

“Of course! I'll be back in just a tiff!” Coran announces, and sprints from the room.

The puppy is still whimpering and squirming in Shiro’s arms. He sits down, trying to coddle it, while Hunk and Keith start handling the dishes.

Keith glances over at him a few times, and Shiro wishes again that he’d remembered to put on a shirt.

“I didn’t know you liked animals so much,” Keith admits.

“Doesn’t everyone like animals?” Shiro asks.

Hunk jumps into the conversation, “Dude, you’ve been completely dog-brained since you got back.”

“Well it’s new,” Shiro protests.

Keith shakes his head, “No, you’re— what was it?”

“Dog-brained,” Hunk supplies.

“Yeah, that,” Keith says, “that’s you.”

Coran returns triumphant with what is the Altean form of baby formula. Which means that it’s goo.

“Universally considered the best for the babes—ies,” Coran still finishes his sentence with enthusiasm.

It comes with what is essentially a baby bottle. A space baby bottle.

“You gotta heat it up first,” Hunk says, “that’s what they do in the movies.”

Keith gets enlisted to heat the baby goo so Hunk can get started on dinner, which is already behind schedule. Shiro’s still not sure what to do, but he’s feeling really guilty for not having thought about food earlier. His dog is starving and probably hates him.

“I’m sorry,” he tells it softly, “this won’t happen again. I promise.”

Lance happens to join them— he usually shows up early to help set the table— and gets sucked into the puppy fun.

“Hey Shiro you, uh, a little hot there?” Lance teases.

Shiro’s reminded, again, that he’s missing his shirt. He really hopes he doesn’t have any marks showing.

The puppy squeaks again.

“How much longer?” Shiro asks.

Keith glances nervously between Shiro and the stovetop he’s heating the goo on, “I don’t— how hot should it be? Does goo boil?”

“Are you giving that thing goo?” Lance asks.

“It’s baby food,” Hunk informs him, while he’s masterfully dicing what look like vegetables.

“Wait,” Lance pauses, “Keith are you trying to boil the baby food?”

Keith narrows his eyes and glances at Shiro like he knows there’s a punchline but he can’t see it, then looks back to Lance, “Yeah?”

“Oh my god,” Lance groans, “you can’t give a baby boiling food! You’ll hurt it! How long has it been heating for? It’s probably fine.”

“How would you know,” Keith fires back, “you just got here and suddenly you’re the boss about this stuff?”

“At least I’m using my brain,” Lance points out.

Hunk slams a large knife into the cutting board with a _thunk_ loud enough to startle everyone into silence.

He turns slowly, and steeples his fingers, “I don’t ask for much, you guys,” Hunk says softly, “but there will be no fighting in this kitchen, okay?”

Keith turns back to the stovetop while Lance pulls out a chair to sit beside Shiro. He squints at the puppy, but makes no move to pet it.

“You’re not a dog person?” Shiro guesses.

“They’re fine,” Lance shrugs, “but, I mean, this isn’t really a dog. It’s an alien. A wild space alien that eats people.”

The puppy squeak-shrieks again and starts to wiggle in Shiro’s arms. Lance leans back nervously.

“It’s not going to eat you,” Shiro points out.

“It’s gonna get big. And slobbery. And hairy,” Lance shudders, “pets are cool, I guess, but they’re so much work and more mess than they’re worth.”

“Well, good thing you don’t have to worry about that,” Shiro says. He’s got the puppy on its back and he’s rubbing its belly. It’s kicking it’s fat legs in the air and squeaking. Shiro can’t help but smile.

Keith holds the bottle out to him like it’s a grenade, “I think it’s ready.”

Lance snatches it before Shiro can grab it, and grabs Keith’s wrist with his other hand.

“Hey!” Keith protests, tugging to get away. Lance overturns the bottle and squirts out some goo onto Keith’s inner wrist.

“Gross,” Keith groans when Lance lets him go, “what the hell was that for?”

“Language,” Shiro snaps automatically, surprising himself. When he glances up everyone is staring at him.

“There’s a… a baby,” he explains. He didn’t even mean to do it, but the responsible part of his brain just reacted on instinct.

Lance snorts, and holds up the bottle for Keith to look at, “How hot did that feel? Will it hurt the dog?”

Keith rubs at the goo on his wrist and makes a face at the sensation, “Um, no. Probably not.”

Lance offers the bottle to Shiro, “All yours, Mama Bear.”

“How come I’m Mama. Shouldn’t I be Papa Bear?” Shiro asks, taking the bottle.

“No, that’s Ulaz. He’s taller,” Lance jokes, “plus, with all that fur and those muscles, he really is a bear, which, in comparison, makes you more like a—”

“Hey,” Shiro cuts him off before Lance digs himself into a hole. Lance hops up to help Hunk, but he’s still chuckling at his own joke.

“Okay buddy,” Shiro says. He maneuvers the puppy to sit up in his arms, and holds the bottle in front of it, “it’s dinnertime.”

The puppy squeaks at being manhandled, but otherwise doesn’t move. Nervously Shiro pokes at its face with the tip of the bottle, but still doesn’t get a response.

“Maybe it’s not hungry?” Keith offers. He’s standing back, leaning his hip against the table with his arms crossed.

“I don’t think it’s eaten all day,” Shiro says, and then turns his attention back to the puppy, “c’mon little guy. You’re gonna love this stuff. Just open up.”

“Does it not like the goo?” Hunk asks.

“No one likes the goo,” Lance snorts. Coran _harumphs_.

“Maybe it doesn’t know there’s food in there,” Hunk offers, “like when you get a jelly-stuffed doughnut for the first time. You’re looking for that jelly, and you don’t know where it is, and then you take a bite and _bam_! You got jelly! Oh man I want doughnuts. I’m gonna try and bake some doughnuts tomorrow.”

Shiro vaguely remembers having watched babies being bottle-fed before. He’d always been either too uninterested or, when he got older, too freaked out by the babies to really pay attention. He squirts some goo onto his finger and presses it to the puppy’s mouth. It takes a moment, but then the puppy is eagerly eating up and trying to find more goo. Shiro does this a few more times before he replaces his finger with the bottle.

He’s bottle-feeding his dog. It’s making happy grunts, and messier than he thought possible. No matter how he tries to do it, it feels like half the goo ends up spilling on the puppy. A skill to practice, then.

Shiro hears Pidge and Hunk chatting excitedly over how cute it is, and Lance agreeing with them. Dinner must be ready to go but he doesn’t think he’s seen anything as great as his new puppy.

That’s when Ulaz walks in.

 _‘I’ll be back in five_ ’ is what Shiro said, what, an hour ago? Woops. Shiro mouths a ‘sorry’ at him and nods down at the puppy. It needed to be fed, and unfortunately that’s a little more important than a little ‘Papa and Daddy’ time.

There’s goo dripping on his vest. Note to self: invest in a bib or a bottle-time blanket or something. By the time everyone’s serving up for dinner, the puppy is just about finished the bottle.

“Wow she really packs it back,” Pidge comments.

“I don’t blame her, it’s been a long day,” Shiro says.

Pidge reaches out to pet the puppy’s head with a finger. The puppy grunts, and then sneezes goo all over Shiro’s vest.

Pidge and Lance burst into laughter, while Hunk goes a little green.

“I’m gonna excuse myself,” Shiro says, “I think it’s bathtime.”

He pauses before he goes, but Ulaz is already reaching for his plate.

“I will make sure there is food left for you,” he says.

If Shiro wasn’t dripping with baby food he would have stopped to kiss him. Instead he says a brief ‘thanks!’ and moves on.

* * *

The bath was kind of a terrible idea. Not in the sense of having a bath itself being terrible— Shiro was covered in dirt and sweaty from the day in the market, and the puppy was slimed up with goo. But in the sense of Shiro was thinking about heating up the goo, and how it could have been too hot and hurt his puppy. Which then led him to thinking about accidentally boiling his puppy. So he ran the bath at lukewarm temperature. And then cooled it down.

So it’s not cold-cold. But it’s definitely not hot. And as someone who only bathes when it’s steaming hot, this sucks. It sucks a lot.

The puppy doesn’t like it either. But Shiro’s pretty sure if he was that size he’d be freaked out by all the water too.

“I promise not to drop you,” he says. He holds the puppy to his chest and scoops the water up to wash it with. It would probably have been smarter to wash the puppy in the sink, not in the bath with him. Admittedly Shiro’s having a hard time thinking coherently when his puppy is this cute.

It’s a trick to wash his hair one-handed, and even moreso to rinse it. He’ll probably have to take a quick shower in the morning to get rid of all of the soap, but it’s gonna have to do for now.

Toweling off the puppy is one of the more nerve-wracking moments of his life. Shiro’s terrified to squeeze too hard and hurt it, but he doesn’t want to leave it wet and cold either.

Eventually the two of them have made a game of it— Shiro rubs the puppy quickly and the puppy squeaks and flails its legs and wags its two stubby tails.

Shiro looks up at the sound of a throat being cleared. Ulaz is standing in the doorway to their bathroom, and he looks a little concerned. Shiro’s aware he’s sitting on the edge of the tub in his underwear, laughing with a little squeak-toy, but he’s not sure why he feels a little embarrassed about being caught.

“You never came back for dinner,” Ulaz says.

“What time is it?” Shiro asks.

“Bedtime,” Ulaz replies.

“Oh, well. We got a little distracted,” Shiro admits. The puppy is almost completely dry, so he deems it acceptable to tuck it in for bed.

“I can see that,” Ulaz says. He steps back as Shiro leaves the bathroom.

Shiro tucks the puppy into its box, taking care to wrap it up so it will feel safe and warm. He’s still a little in disbelief, like he’s going to wake up any second now and this will all have been a dream.

Ulaz comes out of the bathroom carrying all of Shiro’s laundry.

“Sorry,” Shiro says, “I was gonna get that.”

Ulaz drops it all in their laundry hamper, “Well,” he says slowly, “I suppose you’ll have to make it up to me.”

“Yeah,” Shiro agrees, “I just want to make sure—”

He’s cut off by warm hands scooping him up. Ulaz doesn’t even flinch as he stands, holding Shiro bridal-style.

“I wanted to make sure the puppy is comfortable,” Shiro pouts.

“It won’t sleep with you fussing over it,” Ulaz points out.

“I guess,” Shiro agrees, “but it’s so cute!”

Ulaz dumps him on the bed, and climbs onto him while Shiro’s laughing.

“You still owe me a promise,” Ulaz murmurs, and he leans down to suck on Shiro’s neck.

“Sorry,” Shiro says again.

“And now you owe me a favor,” Ulaz continues, “what’s to be done about that?”

Shiro runs his hands up Ulaz’s chest and over his shoulders onto his back, “I can think of a few things you might enjoy.”

Ulaz kisses him, and Shiro loves kissing. Loved it before the Kerberos mission, and is loving it again now afterwards. Except he’s smiling so much he can’t keep it up.

“What’s gotten into you?” Ulaz asks, pulling back.

Shiro tries to scrub the smile off his face, but he can’t.

“I’m… I’m so happy,” he admits, “I can’t stop. I have a dog!”

Ulaz looks genuinely confused, “You really like it?”

“I do,” Shiro nods, and has a brief moment of self-preservation, “just about as much as I like you.”

That brings a sharp-toothed smile back to Ulaz’s face. Shiro feels him physically relax against him. Ulaz presses a soft kiss to where he’d accidentally bitten Shiro earlier, a small apology, and then they’re kissing and touching again.

* * *

Ulaz presses a kiss to the back of Shiro’s neck, later on, “You smell like me again,” he declares.

“Weirdo,” Shiro mumbles. He’s still smiling.

Ulaz rolls over to hit the light controls, and then snuggles up tighter to Shiro. He wraps a warm arm around Shiro’s waist and sighs contently, practically purring.

The puppy starts shrieking.

Ulaz growls as Shiro jumps out of the bed to rush to the box. The puppy has wiggled out of the blankets and is shivering in the chill of the room.

“What’s wrong with it now?” Ulaz demands.

“It’s cold,” Shiro realizes, and quickly picks it up to tuck it up against his collarbone. He can feel it shivering under his hands.

“What are you doing?” Ulaz mumbles, sitting up. Galra are adorably sleepy and affectionate in their post-coital state.

“It’s too cold in here. I’ll figure something out for tomorrow,” Shiro explains, getting back into bed. It’s almost too cold for him, without any clothes on. He pulls the blankets up around his shoulders, keeping the puppy pressed against him.

“It’s in our bed,” Ulaz observes.

“Just one night,” Shiro protests, “it’s cold and probably a little scared. This is all new for it.”

Ulaz groans a defeat, flopping back onto the bed. He reaches out and tugs at Shiro to come closer.

It takes a little maneuvering, but soon they’re back to Ulaz spooning Shiro, and Shiro protectively curled around his puppy. It’s pressed right against his chest, and Shiro wants to imagine that it knows it can trust him already.

Ulaz’s breathing has already evened out into a light snore, and the puppy chirps a bit as it sleeps. Shiro doesn’t think he could imagine anything better than this, even if he wanted to.


	2. Name Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the most domestic story I've ever written and I have no regrets
> 
> Thanks for all the lovely response to ch1! Hope y'all enjoy this one too <33
> 
> I changed a few things up! Just fyi. Instead of Ulaz and Shiro being a permanent set couple, I decided it was a lot more interesting if they're still a New Couple. So we'll probably have some fun with the ups and downs of getting used to one another, and that also means they're defs still in the honeymoon phase right now.

The day starts earlier than usual when Shiro gets a wet, stinky lesson about feeding puppies and then letting them sleep with you.

Ulaz showers, quiet and cranky, while Shiro washes the puppy in the sink. Shiro’s not exactly happy about this either, but it’s hard to stay mad when he looks down at the furball in his hands. The puppy is just smaller than a stuffed animal, and Shiro could easily hold it with one hand. The more he looks at it the more convinced he is that it’s too young to be separated from its family, but also that it’s not far from that age either. If it develops like a regular earth dog.

Shiro bundles the puppy up in a towel to keep it snug and warm, and trades off with Ulaz to take his turn in the shower. By the time he comes out, Ulaz has stripped their bedding and taken all of their laundry to wash it. The puppy squeaks in its towel burrito, where Shiro left it in its box. It’s making the same noises as last night, when it was hungry.

Normally Shiro has morning exercises he likes to do to wake himself up, and he’s started meditating with Ulaz, but he figures he can set those aside for one day. He picks up the puppy and heads for the kitchen.

* * *

 

It feels a little surreal to be balancing a squirming, squeaking bundle on his chest with one hand, while trying to warm up the baby formula with the other. The puppy almost wiggles out of his arms several times, which makes this one of the most nerve-wracking breakfasts Shiro’s ever had.

He gets the goo into the bottle, and even remembers to check the temperature, before sitting down at the table and feeding the puppy. He’s a little smarter this time, using the towel to wipe off the extra, and figures out to only tip the bottle for the puppy to suck at in little bits, rather than let it have its fill.

Keith is the first to join him, and he takes a seat near Shiro to watch curiously.

“So you’re gonna keep it?” he asks.

Shiro’s confused why Keith would be thinking he _wouldn’t_ be keeping it, “Yeah,” he says, “I bought it. It’s mine.”

Keith shrugs, “I thought it might have worn off by now. But you’re still doing it.”

“Doing what?” Shiro asks.

Keith waves his hand, which means nothing to Shiro, “The thing that Hunk was talking about. Dog head, or whatever. You have this look on your face.”

Shiro wants to point out that he’s just happy. But if him being happy makes everyone else think he’s being weird, he doesn’t want to talk about it. That’s pretty sad to think about.

Lance and Hunk meander in, and start making food. The puppy is almost done the bottle, and Shiro takes in the sounds of people around him. It’s nice, the little family they have together.

* * *

 

“So,” Hunk says over breakfast, “have you thought of any names?”

Allura and Coran aren’t joining them today. Most aliens don’t eat three meals a day, and while Allura, Coran and even Ulaz will sit with them for the company, for the most part it’s just the humans who gather for breakfast.

Pidge has also joined them, but she’s not a morning person and is quietly eating the food that’s been handed to her. She’ll probably start talking near the end of the meal, though she did reach out to pet the puppy when she stumbled in.

Shiro glances down at the puppy in his arms.

“Uh,” he admits, “no, not really. I don’t even know if it’s a girl or a boy.”

“C’mon you have to have _some_ names picked out,” Lance says, “share!”

Shiro shakes his head, “I haven’t thought that far yet, honestly.”

“Oh! Oh!” Hunk lights up, “can we help you name it?”

Shiro shrugs, “Yeah, sure. We can come up with a list.”

“Fido,” Lance declares.

“That’s so uninspired,” Hunk sighs.

“New rule,” Shiro announces, “it has to be a _good_ name.”

“What about Rover?” Keith says.

“That’s even worse,” Lance snorts, “and didn’t you hear the rule? Shiro _just_ said no dumb names.”

“But like… y’know, Rover. As in, the robot,” Keith explains. He glances at Pidge, who just nods mutely and keeps chewing on her goo.

“I’ll allow that one,” Shiro grants. He’s not going to pick it, but he’s not going to shoot it down publicly either. It is a good question though. What is he going to name his dog?

* * *

 

The day goes on as normal. The puppy falls asleep and Shiro puts it back in its box to keep it safe. He’s got training next, so he leaves the box, and napping puppy inside, with Coran and Allura, who are overseeing the exercises. Both of them look incredibly uneasy about being in charge of the puppy, so he assures them that all they have to do is get him if it starts making a lot of noise again.

Everything goes fine, though Shiro ends up having to leave training early to go feed the puppy when it wakes up shrieking again. It can get incredibly loud, for something so small.

* * *

 

It’s in the afternoon, just after lunch, while there’s a bit of post-meal downtime, that Shiro’s back in Ulaz’s room. He’s sitting on the floor with his legs out in a v, and setting the puppy down on the floor and letting it toddle its way back to him. It squeaks it’s frustration at not being picked up the whole time.

Shiro had come in after training to find that Ulaz had gotten their bedding washed and remade the bed already, and washed Shiro’s laundry and left it folded on the bed. Shiro hasn’t put it away yet— that will mean going all the way to his room in the Paladin wing— and he gets a warm feeling in his chest every time he looks at his laundry all done and folded by someone else. It’s _domestic_.

While he and Ulaz have fallen into a semi-regular routine, what they have together is still very new. Shiro gets a thrill every time he gets reminded that he’s in a relationship, and that there’s someone who chooses to be with him. Sometimes it’s a little weird that it’s an _alien_ who wants to be with him, but Shiro’s pretty happy to be with Ulaz so that probably makes him a little weird too.

Ulaz walks into the room and pauses to take in the sight of Shiro sitting on the floor with the puppy.

“You’re still allowing it in here?” he asks.

“It was an accident,” Shiro laughs, “I can't punish it for that. We’re learning to walk right now.”

The puppy stumbles three hasty steps forwards, and chirps.

“It can’t learn that on its own?” Ulaz questions. He breaks from his stance and walks to his closet, stripping off his light armor. He must have been training.

“I guess it could, but I like helping it,” Shiro says.

The puppy waddles into Shiro’s open hands and he picks it up to give it a kiss on the nose.

“Who’s a good puppy?” he asks. It squeaks again and Shiro laughs at the timing.

“You like to help it a lot. How long will you sacrifice your time for it?” Ulaz points out.

“Well it's gonna need lots of attention to start, and then obedience training,” Shiro says, “which would be a lot easier if I had a name to start getting it used to hearing.”

“So name it,” Ulaz says. Shiro's noticed that sometimes Ulaz gets frustrated with how humans over think things. It's something Shiro appreciates about him— he always looks at a situation and makes a decision and then sticks to it. But it's also caused them enough grief when Ulaz decides on something that Shiro strongly disagrees with. He's sure that if he talked to other members of the Blade of Marmora that they'd all say that quality, and a few others, are why Ulaz is often at odds with the leader.

Shiro sets the puppy back on the floor between his legs, and watches it stagger towards him on shaky legs.

“The gang is brainstorming,” Shiro informs Ulaz, “so hopefully we can come up with something soon. But I’m thinking that I don’t want an earth name for the dog. It doesn’t seem right to name an alien dog Spot or Fido.”

“Are those traditional earth names?” Ulaz asks.

Shiro laughs, “Yeah they’re, uh, generic dog names. No one actually names their dog that, but if you say them everyone knows you’re talking about a dog.”

Ulaz makes his ‘humans are weird’ face. It’s practically a pout and Shiro kind of finds it adorable.

The puppy falls into Shiro’s hand and he picks it up to kiss it again. It wiggles it’s paws in the air and he tucks it up against his collarbone.

Ulaz watches the whole moment and his face shifts to a vaguely disgusted look.

“Do you not have pets?” Shiro asks.

Ulaz shakes his head, “Only the most feral and poor Galra live amongst animals. I can’t imagine why you would want one in your home.”

“They’re cute,” Shiro offers, “and on earth dogs were originally domesticated for a variety of purposes. Now they’re pretty much for companionship.”

“Because humans can’t find that amongst one another?” Ulaz asks. He sounds very Galra right now— which means he’s being condescending.

“Because dogs have a special kind of energy,” Shiro says, “and they love you no matter what. It’s uncomplicated.”

“It’s dirty and loud,” Ulaz sighs, “I don’t want it in the bed.”

“We’ll have to turn up the heat then,” Shiro says, “otherwise it’ll freeze.”

“It can sleep in the hall,” Ulaz offers.

“No,” Shiro shuts him down, “it has to be in the room so I can hear if it needs me.”

“We won’t get any sleep,” Ulaz counters.

“It won’t be forever— it’s just a baby. Once it’s older it’ll sleep through the night,” Shiro says.

Ulaz looks taken aback, “You’re going to keep it as it grows?”

“Of course,” Shiro says, “it’s my dog. I’m not going to abandon it.”

“I see,” Ulaz says coldly.

“What’s gotten into you?” Shiro asks. When Ulaz goes cold and quiet like this it means he’s mad about something.

“It’s unimportant,” Ulaz dismisses him.

Shiro hates when Ulaz shuts down on him like this.

“Really?” Shiro presses, “talk to me.”

Ulaz shakes his head and waves Shiro off, “Don’t concern yourself with it. Enjoy your dog.”

The puppy squeaks again, already hungry for dinner. Shiro gets up off the floor, still holding it to his chest.

“Okay,” he says slowly, “I’m here to talk if you need to.”

Ulaz doesn’t reply.

* * *

 

Pidge was sneaking a few snacks before dinner when Shiro walks into the kitchen. In exchange for no scolding, she agrees to heat up the baby formula for him. It gives Shiro some time to take in the new addition to the kitchen.

A poster on the wall, taped with what he hopes is similar to painters tape, and covered in messy, teenaged scrawl.

He can pick out Hunk’s writing on a few of the names. Hunk seemed to be thinking the opposite of Shiro in that he’s suggesting all Earth names:

_Olan_

_Steve_

_Bob_

Pidge has written a few as well:

_Relev_

_Actgua_

_Volar_

_Velnuk_

Those must be Altean names she’s learning. Shiro is also pretty sure they aren’t names and are probably just weird Altean adjectives that will make Coran and Allura laugh every time he calls his dog.

Then comes Lance’s suggestions,

_Kujho_

_Klifhard_

_Be'eest_

_Bow-ow_

_Keith Jr_

_Wuhoof_

Shiro resists the urge to roll his eyes.

In the corner he finds the only name Keith has suggested:

_Shiro Jr_

Shiro’s actually regretting letting everyone help him pick a name. He loves his team, but they’re all terrible at this.

Pidge begs to feed the puppy, and Shiro forces himself to relinquish it over. It squeals during the exchange, but it's getting the hang of the bottle now and starts eating happily. It's little ears wiggle happily.

Lance and Hunk show up while Shiro's starting to poke around in the kitchen to try and start dinner. He's really only a good cook when it comes to himself, and even then he always liked to avoid actually cooking whenever possible. So he's relieved to let Hunk take charge.

Pidge is offering Lance the chance to feed the puppy from where she’s sitting at the table. Lance glances at the goo spilled on her sweater, and the puppy’s very messy face and grimaces.

“I think I'll pass,” he says.

“I can't believe you hate animals,” Pidge says, “dogs are the best.”

“They're a lot of work,” Lance shrugs, and then, “Hey, Shiro,” he calls.

Shiro's been entrusted with cutting some vegetables, and so he doesn't see the sly look on Lance’s face, as he's more focused on not losing a finger, but he sure as hell hears it.

“What?” Shiro braces for anything.

“Since when were you and Ulaz at, like, the ‘get a dog’ level?”

Shiro pauses to look at Lance, “At the what?”

“Getting a dog,” Lance says again, and points at the puppy in Pidge’s arms, “that's a pretty big capital-D Deal for a couple. Since when were you there?”

Shiro's not sure he's following the logic, and he's not sure if he wants to.

“We didn't get the dog. I did,” Shiro clarifies, “it's not complicated.”

“No,” Hunk interjects, “I agree with Lance. Getting a pet is a big deal.”

Shiro shoots Hunk a betrayed look, “it's _my_ dog.”

“But does it stay in your room? No— it stays with you and Ulaz. Ergo, it's his dog too,” Hunk says.

“What does getting a dog have to do with anything?” Shiro asks. He's confused.

“You don't know?” Pidge asks, “like, even _I_ know getting a pet is a big deal.”

“You all keep saying big deal but no one has elaborated on it yet,” Shiro points out, “I think you're just trying to freak me out.”

“It's like…” Lance drums his fingers on the tabletop to think.

“It's a step below having a kid,” Hunk says, “which, for couples that can’t have kids— it _is_ like having a baby.”

Shiro drops the knife. It clatters off the counter, narrowly missing his hand, and falls to the floor in a windmill of potential violence. Shiro has to leap back out of the way and jumps right into Hunk, and nearly knocks him into the stove.

Lance and Pidge burst into laughter.

“Dude! Your face!” Lance howls.

Hunk pushes Shiro off good-naturedly, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I—” Shiro can’t believe he reacted like that. But— is that what getting a dog means? That it’s like having a kid? Is that why he’s mad Ulaz doesn’t like it?

“Hunk. You broke him,” Pidge says somewhere far away.

Shiro hasn’t even thought about having a family with Ulaz— okay, that’s a lie. He’s daydreamed about it in the sense of ‘it’s so far off that it’s not even on the table’ and it was more just about how he was ever going to introduce Ulaz to his parents. But they’ve only been officially dating for a little while. They’re committed, yes, but it’s still new! They’re nowhere near ready to even be discussing kids or _serious_ commitment.

“Shiro?” Hunk says, and he feels a nudge at his hip, “you okay?”

Shiro realizes he’s standing exactly where Hunk set him, in the middle of the kitchen, and staring off at nothing.

“I got the dog because I wanted a dog,” Shiro says firmly, “It was an impulse,” that’s what Ulaz had called it, “it’s got nothing to do with wanting kids.”

“I’ve never seen you wig out this hard,” Lance says in astonishment.

“You seriously didn’t know,” Hunk realizes.

“How?” Lance shouts.

“How do _you_ know that?” Shiro responds, being very mature.

“Everyone knows that,” Lance says, “my first girlfriend in fourth grade got us a hamster after dating for like two days and I faked having a hamster allergy to get away.”

“Oh my god,” Pidge snorts, “you’re the worst! Why were you even dating in the first place?”

“I got charm,” Lance brags, “plus we had the same backpack. It just made sense.”

“That was his first and last girlfriend,” Hunk points out, “he’s been scared of commitment ever since.”

“You jerk,” Lance laughs, and settles back in his chair, “point being, Shiro, was that I was wondering when you and Ulaz got super domestic and ready for the pitter-patter of tiny feet when we weren’t looking. But, I guess somehow you missed Dating 101.”

Shiro finishes cleaning off the knife he dropped, and goes back to cutting the vegetables, “This conversation is over.”

“Does Ulaz even like the dog?” Pidge asks, “I don’t think I’ve seen him with it yet.”

“Over,” Shiro repeats.

“What’s over?” Keith asks, coming in to take a seat on the other side of Pidge.

Shiro tunes them out as Lance launches into a dramatic retelling of the last five minutes.

* * *

 

Shiro doesn’t get his dog back until after dinner. Once Hunk is finished cooking and handling food, he all but pries the puppy out of Pidge’s hands and cuddles and coos at it while it snorts and chirps.

Shiro cleans up alone after all four Paladins get enamored watching the puppy toddle around on the table. He knows exactly how absorbing it can be, and he’s pretty much kept it to himself since he got it, so it’s fair to let the others enjoy having a cute puppy around.

“Did you see our name board?” Lance turns to ask.

“I did,” Shiro says neutrally.

“And?” Lance presses.

“Haven’t decided yet,” Shiro says.

Lance frowns, “You can’t leave it unnamed forever.”

“I’ll let you know when I decide,” Shiro assures him.

They’re both distracted when Pidge and Hunk let out shocked ‘oh my quiznak!’s.

A little worried, Shiro hustles over. The puppy had climbed, or fallen, into Hunk’s empty bowl. And fallen asleep. Shiro bites his lip to keep from embarrassing himself. His dog is the cutest thing in the entire galaxy.

Keith glances between everyone and the dog a few times before nervously asking, “Is it... dead?”

Lance’s shocked laughter startles the puppy awake, and Shiro scoops it up quickly before it gets too scared.

* * *

 

Rather than head back to Ulaz’s room, Shiro decides to go on a tour of the ship. He introduces the puppy to it’s new home and tells it all about what he does.

And the Castle is his home now, Shiro realizes.

He’s always imagined that one day he’d have a house and a family. A little boy and a little girl, if he’s being specific, and a loving partner. One day. It’s always felt so far off, especially with Shiro constantly on the move for work and training so he’d never really put down roots anywhere.

But now he has a home. And he has Ulaz.

Does he want a family with Ulaz? Shiro’s afraid to follow that question. Because it forces him to ask if he sees a future with Ulaz. And if he doesn’t, then is it worth him wasting his time with him?

He doesn’t want to think about that right now. Ulaz makes him happy, and that’s all Shiro wants right now. Shiro's too fucked up to have a family anyways, right now. It's just not a good time to even consider the possibility.

Shiro’s also probably a little mad about Ulaz being in a mood about the dog.

They find themselves in the bridge; lights dim for the night cycle so the view of the stars is fantastic. The puppy wiggles in his arms and Shiro sets it down at his feet so it can walk around.

What if Shiro did pretend the dog was like a kid? It’s similar responsibilities, after all. And in all honestly, Shiro might like dogs marginally more than babies. Not that he’ll ever admit it. But if he wants to pretend that the dog is the same commitment as having a child… does he want Ulaz to feel the same way?

Shiro’s stomach churns at the thought. He… he kind of does. Sharing a pet, the idea of the dog being _theirs_ the same way Ulaz’s room is slowly becoming _theirs_ makes Shiro feel a little flustered.

That’s gotta be the domestic sap in him talking. It’s silly to be equating owning a dog to having a kid and being married. Shiro shakes himself out of the fantasies. He’s not going to go there, he’s going to live in the present and see what happens.

First, though, he really wants Ulaz to like his dog.

* * *

 

“How was zoo keeping?” Ulaz asks, tone calm but very reserved. He's reclined in bed, reading on his tablet.

“The team is great,” Shiro jokes, “and the dog is doing good too.”

Ulaz doesn't bother with a response and goes back to reading. Shiro takes the puppy to the bathroom and sets it in the tub. He's going to have to figure out where it's going to go for house breaking, and soon, so Shiro can get started on that training. For now, while it's little like this, he figures he can use the tub. He also hopes that it's been long enough since dinner that the puppy is ready to go and they won't have to sit here all night.

Shiro leaves the puppy in the tub and stands in the doorway, leaning on the frame and crossing his arms over his chest.

“So how was your day?” Shiro asks.

Ulaz sets his tablet down and sits up to look at Shiro.

“Quiet,” he offers.

Shiro feels like that might be a complaint about the dog, but he's going to take it at face value, “That's good. Nothing interesting?”

Ulaz shakes his head, “Nothing to bore you with.”

“Pidge tried to outsmart me,” Shiro says, “I was getting them to do some target practice today and she tried to loophole what I'd said to give herself an advantage. So I shot her in the back when she wasn't looking and she screamed so loud that it scared Hunk,” he snorts at the memory, while Ulaz’s expression doesn't change, “maybe you had to be there.”

“You shot Pidge?” Ulaz asks.

“It was training— like paintball, no wait you won't know what that is. It was harmless, she's fine,” Shiro assures him.

The puppy squeaks from behind him and Shiro ducks back into the bathroom to check on it.

Success! He's totally a genius and the puppy master. He runs the shower head to wash away the evidence, and then rejoins Ulaz.

Ulaz frowns as Shiro sets the puppy on the bed.

“No,” he says firmly.

“I just need to change,” Shiro assures him.

Ulaz shifts away from the tiny puppy as if it’s a grenade about to go off. He doesn’t take his eyes off of it. The fact that Ulaz is so _huge_ compared to the tiny, fat fluffball just makes it hilarious.

He grabs the first shirt off of his laundry pile— one with an Altean cut to it so it hangs low past his waist. It’s a perfect nightshirt, though he’s sure it’s probably meant to be worn in other ways. Altean styles are weird.

It smells clean and fresh. Shiro hops into bed beside Ulaz, scooping up the puppy so it can sit on his chest.

“I forgot to say earlier, but thanks for doing the laundry,” Shiro says. He twists to give Ulaz a kiss.

That finally gets rid of the grumpy face.

Ulaz rolls as Shiro leans back, so he can nuzzle his face against Shiro’s neck.

“And now we need to re-scent it,” he says. Galra are weird about smells, Shiro’s discovered. He can’t smell half of what Ulaz talks about, but Shiro knows that if he sneaks one of his well-worn shirts into Ulaz’s stuff when Ulaz has to go on a mission, he gets major boyfriend points and could probably get away with murder.

The puppy squeaks when Ulaz accidentally sets his hand on it. Ulaz jerks away like he’s been burned.

“I made sure we went to the bathroom before bed,” Shiro assures him, “no more accidents.”

“I don’t want it here,” Ulaz growls.

“You barely even notice it,” Shiro points out, “it’s so tiny.”

“It can be tiny in its box,” Ulaz complains, “or give it to one of the other Paladins to keep. They seem to like it.”

“They do,” Shiro agrees, “but it’s my responsibility.”

Ulaz flops down onto his back, “You’re very protective of it.”

“It’s a cute little baby,” Shiro points out, “how could you not like it?”

Ulaz gives him a _look_ and, well, waking up to a stinky, soiled bed is a pretty good reason to be cranky.

“So I have an idea,” Shiro confesses, “because I want you to like the dog. It’s staying, and I want you to get along.”

Ulaz remains quiet, and waits for Shiro to continue.

“Did you see what the gang put up in the kitchen?” Shiro asks.

Ulaz narrows his eyes in thought, and then sits up warily, “No?” he says carefully.

“There’s a contest to help me name the puppy,” Shiro explains, “I said they could help, so they’ve got a suggestions page put up but… they’re all terrible at names. All of them. And while I don’t know _what_ I want to name my dog, I know I don’t want to give it an earth name.”

“I’m sure you will think of something,” Ulaz assures him.

“Actually,” Shiro says slowly, and glances up at Ulaz, “I was hoping that you might name it.”

Ulaz laughs, and then looks shocked when he realizes Ulaz is serious, “Me? Why? It’s your… thing.”

“I don’t think human names will fit it,” Shiro says, “it should have a real space name. And since Galra is our shared language… it just seems right that the puppy have a Galra name.”

Shiro doesn’t actually speak Galra very well. He really only knows fragments. But he’s been practicing with Ulaz since it’ll be good to have out in the field, and Ulaz is learning English from him.

“I don’t have any ideas,” Ulaz says.

“You can think on it,” Shiro agrees, “but I want you to name it. Don’t tell the others that— I promised they could help.”

“You’re deceiving your own team,” Ulaz remarks.

“Go look at the poster tomorrow,” Shiro tells him, “it’s really bad. Don’t ever let these people name anything for you.”

Ulaz chuckles, and then glances at the puppy as it yawns widely.

“It’s sleeping here again?” he asks, though he sounds like he already knows the answer.

“We have to turn up the heat, or else it’s staying,” Shiro says.

Ulaz looks like he’s going to consider it. But Galra run so hot that their comfortable temperature zone is much colder than what it is for humans. Ulaz puts up with it everywhere else, but he likes his room to be cool, or else he gets cranky. He’s not going to turn up the heat.

He sighs in defeat, and reaches for his tablet, “Very well,” he mumbles.

There’s still a problem, considering Ulaz isn’t pushing to ‘re-scent’ the bed, and that’s one of his favorite activities. But he’s making space, he’s accepting the dog. It’s a good start.

Shiro lies down on his side and shuffles over so he can rest his head on Ulaz’s thigh. The puppy is asleep, lying in the protective space between Shiro’s chest and Ulaz’s leg.

After a moment Shiro feels Ulaz’s fingers run through his hair. He hums happily.

“What’s in the news?” Shiro asks idly.

“The Empire is oppressive. A celebrity has divorced their third partner to remarry their first. A new recreational drug is in circulation, and there are tips on how to best use it,” Ulaz rattles off.

Shiro smiles, “Are you reading actual news or gossip articles?”

Ulaz’s claw tips ghost over the skin right behind his ear and Shiro shivers. He makes himself a little more comfortable, stretching out his neck, and feels himself relaxing as Ulaz pets him.

Shiro’s nearly asleep, zoned out from the rhythmic touch of Ulaz’s hand, when he feels the puppy wiggle against him. He touches it with his hand, but it was just rolling over and it goes back to sleep without a sound.

“Any ideas for a name yet?” Shiro mumbles. He cracks his eyes open to look up at Ulaz. The lights are off— when had that happened? And Ulaz’s face is illuminated in the glow from his tablet.

Ulaz is quiet a moment and then says, “ _Vohluq_.”

Shiro turns the word over in his mind, feeling it out. Sleep is calling out to him, and it’s hard to make his thoughts work. He’s pretty sure he’s heard this word before— maybe in the times he’s practiced his Galra with Ulaz.

It clicks and he cranes his neck to glare up at Ulaz, “That means _scum_!”

Ulaz’s hand pauses in his hair, though Ulaz’s face betrays nothing.

“Oops,” Ulaz says.

“A good name,” Shiro orders. He turns his head back so he can keep his cheek pressed to Ulaz’s thigh. Ulaz resumes petting him again. Shiro’s become a drooling, snoring mess from this kind of treatment many times. It’s one of his weaknesses, and he doesn’t mind letting Ulaz exploit it.

“ _Khazav_ , then,” Ulaz says.

Shiro mumbles the name. It sounds nice.

“Is that a boy or girl name?” he asks, keeping his eyes closed.

“Why do humans gender everything?” Ulaz responds, and Shiro shrugs weakly.

“It’s neither,” Ulaz offers, after a moment.

“Then it’s a girl's name,” Shiro decides, and he’s practically asleep so he’s beyond incoherent when he mumbles, “looks like we have a baby girl.”

Little Khazav taps her paw on Shiro’s chest, and he takes that as a good sign.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Shiro what's that river in Egypt called? De Nile???
> 
> Cause that's where you're at, buddy


	3. Trouble in Paradise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This currently says 3/3 chapters, because I'm considering making this story into a series of short stories, or just keeping all the stories under the 'Dog Days' title. Keep an eye on my tumblr where I'll probably announce what I decide on, or check in every so often to see where we go with this!
> 
> Shoutout to all of you taking the time to read this domestic, sappy indulgence!! I love writing this story because it's so happy (though... be warned about this chapter...) and also because I get to share it with all of you! <3

When Shiro wakes up, Ulaz’s side of the bed is empty. Khazav is under the blankets, tucked almost under his hip. For a moment Shiro’s worried about how easily it could have been for him to roll over and crush her, but he reaches down to pick her up and set her on his chest. She lets out a sleepy honk that startles Shiro into chuckling.

Shiro yawns as he sits up, keeping Khazav cradled in his hand. Ulaz is on the floor, back to the bed, meditating. Shiro tries to be quiet as he gets up and heads for the bathroom, closing the door slowly as not to disturb Ulaz. He sets Khazav in the sink and steps into the shower to freshen up.

He gives Khazav a quick bath afterwards, and she squeals unhappily; tiny legs and stubby tails shaking with anger at the warm water.

Ulaz is still going through his poses, which are all to do with meditation but it’s essentially yoga. Shiro doesn’t want to bother him, but as he skirts around Ulaz to grab a change of clothes, Ulaz reaches out and grabs his wrist to tug him in for a morning nuzzle and kiss.

One of Shiro’s favorite parts of having Ulaz around, of staying in Ulaz’s room, is just sharing space with Ulaz. He loves the small touches in passing or watching Ulaz move in the corner of his eye, or having Ulaz’s things mixed in with Shiro’s own possessions.

“Good morning,” Shiro says cheerfully.

“It is,” Ulaz agrees.

Khazav squeaks in agreement. Ulaz frowns down at her.

“Baby’s hungry,” Shiro explains, “I’m gonna head down to the kitchen and make a bottle. Do you wanna join us today? I’ll save you a seat.”

Ulaz shakes his head, “I have some work to do.”

Shiro nods in understanding. He dresses quickly, as Khazav has started chirping about how hungry she is. She’s impossibly loud for such a small creature.

“I think Allura wants to talk about the Balmara system we’re going to hit next,” Shiro says conversationally, “probably around dinner. We’ll be in the conference—”

“I think I’ll be leaving at that time,” Ulaz says.

Shiro stops in the doorway, and turns to face him, “What?”

“The Marmora contacted me,” Ulaz explains, “I’ve taken up another mission for them.”

Shiro furrows his brow, “But you just finished your last one. Aren’t you supposed to have a few weeks before the next? That was the agreement.”

“They need me,” Ulaz says, “so I must go.”

It’s an unfortunate reality that Ulaz is needed in many places, as is Shiro. And those places don’t often overlap.

“Oh,” Shiro sighs, “okay. How long are you gonna be gone?”

“I don’t know,” Ulaz says.

“Make sure you say goodbye,” Shiro says. He says that every time Ulaz has to leave. It’s unnecessary, but Shiro hates the idea of Ulaz leaving for any length of time. Ulaz always makes sure to find him before he goes.

Ulaz has gone back to his poses, and doesn’t respond.

* * *

“Kosoff,” Pidge repeats.

“Bless you,” Lance snickers. Hunk elbows him.

“Khazav,” Shiro repeats, sounding out the Galra consonants slowly for Pidge’s benefit.

“Khosove,” Pidge tries again.

“Kazave,” Keith attempts.

“You’re both so close,” Shiro encourages, and says the name again.

“I just don’t get why you picked that weird name, when we had plenty of great options,” Lance objects, “Kachew isn’t even on the board!”

“Khazav,” Shiro corrects him. Lance rolls his eyes and shoves another bite of goo into his mouth.

“I think it’s cute,” Hunk says.

“You just think it’s cute cause Ulaz named her,” Pidge points out.

Hunk breaks into a wide grin, “It _is_ cute!”

“You big sap,” Lance smiles, rolling his eyes.

Khazav is toddling around on the table, still shaky on her legs. She keeps stumbling under the weight of her big head and falling over with indignant squeaks. Shiro’s keeping one eye on her while he eats and chats with the Paladins.

She waddles in the direction of the edge of the table, and Shiro decides to try something.

“Khazav,” he calls.

Everyone goes silent, waiting to see if she’ll hear him. She keeps walking. Lance snorts.

“Khaz,” Shiro calls again, a little sterner.

She stops, looking up with all four eyes half-lidded in the light.

“Good girl!” Shiro reaches out to scoop her up. He gives her a kiss on her fuzzy head and she squeaks at him.

Hunk has his hands clamped over his mouth to contain his excited shout of ‘that’s so cute!’.

“We’re going to be working on accuracy again,” Shiro says, “everyone did well on the last round, but I think we all have room for improvement.”

Lance, the resident sharpshooter, cheers triumphantly. Keith, the resident sword master, groans at the idea of using long range weapons again.

* * *

Shiro finds a little free time after lunch, after Khaz has been fed and she’s sleeping in the crook of his arm, on her back like a little human baby.

He ends up back in Ulaz’s room, and after tucking Khaz into her bed, he’s started packing his things up. Shiro tends to spend most of the nights Ulaz is around, in Ulaz’s room with him. There have been some cases where Shiro needed the space, and so he slept in his own room, but for the most part if Ulaz is in the Castle, Shiro moves in with him. It’s more or less because Ulaz is so rarely around. They often get by with small amounts of video calls, whenever it’s possible for Ulaz. Usually it’s not, as Ulaz does a lot of undercover work, and so usually Shiro doesn’t hear from him for days or even weeks. It’s less than ideal, but the alternative would be Ulaz never coming by to visit.

It had taken long enough to convince Kolivan to let Ulaz work a mission and then take some time off. Technically it wasn’t even vacation time, as Ulaz would be joining the Voltron crew on whatever they were doing, but it finally let Shiro and Ulaz put together some sense of routine.

When Ulaz is gone, though, Shiro feels uncomfortable in his room. Ulaz doesn’t have many possessions, and travels with only essentials. His room is bare and empty of any presence when he’s gone, and so then it just feels like Shiro’s sleeping in an empty room. Besides, he doesn’t want to overstep Ulaz’s boundaries. There are times that Shiro goes back to sleep in his own room just to give Ulaz some space.

It’s not like Shiro has much in here either. He usually just brings over a change of clothes and something to sleep in. Anything else he can just go back to his room to retrieve.

He’s reminded of how Ulaz had done their laundry, and how happy that had made Shiro to see his laundry folded and set out with Ulaz’s clothes.

Ulaz already has his bag packed and set by the door. Shiro frowns at it, but unfortunately that alone can’t stop Ulaz from leaving. It must be an important mission if Ulaz has to go. The past times that the Blades have called for Ulaz when he was technically ‘on vacation’, he’d politely but firmly declined his presence so he could stay with Shiro.

Shiro has his clothes and the tablet he’s been reading from at night sometimes, and other than that he’s good to go.

Khaz squeaks in her sleep and Shiro smiles. And he has Khaz.

“You’ve never even seen my room,” Shiro realizes.

The door opens and Ulaz enters. He looks surprised to see Shiro.

“I was just packing up,” Shiro says, “are you leaving soon?”

“Yes,” Ulaz says. For a moment Shiro has a worry that if he hadn’t been here, Ulaz would have left without saying goodbye.

“I’m gonna miss you,” Shiro admits.

Ulaz glances down at his bags and then strides across the room to kiss Shiro. Shiro melts into the touch, standing up tall to meet Ulaz halfway.

“I will miss you as well,” Ulaz murmurs, and he ducks his head lower to nuzzle at Shiro’s throat. It’s more of a head-butt and Shiro keeps his head tilted back while Ulaz scents him. It’s some Galra dating thing, Shiro really doesn’t get it, but it’s important to Ulaz.

“Did you want my shirt?” Shiro offers, holding up the shirt he’s been sleeping in— when he wore clothes to bed.

Ulaz thinks for a moment, and then takes Shiro’s clothes from his hands and drops them on the floor. He crowds into Shiro’s space again, kissing and starting to bite at Shiro’s lips.

“I would like you out of your shirt more,” Ulaz insists. He’s already tugging at Shiro’s clothes.

“What’s gotten into you?” Shiro asks. He shrugs out of his vest as soon as Ulaz has the zipper undone.

Ulaz ducks his head, mouth open and teeth sharp against Shiro’s shoulder. He’s done this before— it’s a very possessive move. The last time Ulaz got like this was when Shiro spent a few days on the Marmora base, and all of the Galra there had been curious about his presence, causing Ulaz to get a little jealous of all the attention Shiro was receiving.

“I want you to remember me,” Ulaz growls, and he hikes his hands under Shiro’s thighs and lifts him up, “and who you belong to.”

“Whoa!” Shiro stops him, leaning away, “what do you mean—”

Khaz shrieks a high-pitched note so loud it makes both Shiro and Ulaz flinch. Ulaz snarls angrily and Shiro wiggles out of his grasp to get to his dog.

“Khaz, baby, I’m right here,” Shiro assures her, scooping her up. She’s chirping but the intensity and loudness has gone down, thankfully. Shiro tucks her up against his chest again.

Ulaz is rubbing his ears unhappily.

“Sorry,” Shiro says, “she must have scared herself awake.”

“You still have that thing,” Ulaz grumbles.

“Khaz is staying,” Shiro reminds him, “we’ll hold the fort until you get home.”

“Until I return,” Ulaz nods, “yes, of course. At least you’ll have company.”

“I’m gonna miss you,” Shiro assures him, “come home safe, okay?”

He crosses the room and puts a hand on Ulaz’s shoulder to steady himself as he stands on his tiptoes to kiss Ulaz. Ulaz leans into the touch.

On a whim Shiro holds out Khaz.

“Do you wanna give her a goodbye kiss too?” he offers.

Ulaz glances between Khaz and Shiro, contemplating.

“No,” he says.

“Once she’s more active, I think you’ll see how much fun a dog can be,” Shiro says.

Ulaz sighs heavily, “If you insist. I must depart soon, the Marmora are expecting me.”

“I said it before, but I mean it: come home safe. Call me if you can,” Shiro instructs.

“Of course,” Ulaz agrees.

* * *

Khaz is waddling in the diamond of Keith and Pidge’s outstretched legs, while Shiro works with Lance and Hunk on their combat. It’s mostly just wrestling, and Shiro has to work to make sure it doesn’t dissolve into mindless fun rather than important lessons that could save lives. Especially when Lance refuses to stop acting like a sports commentator with a ridiculous voice, making Hunk laugh so hard he can barely focus.

Shiro’s made them switch out, so hopefully he can tire Lance out enough that he’ll stop distracting Hunk— though that’s unlikely because Lance is _made_ out of energy— and he’s got Lance in a headlock, while Lance tries to lift Shiro’s leg to throw him, when Allura calls over the speaker system.

“Shiro… did you know Ulaz was leaving?”

Shiro and Lance let go of each other and everyone goes quiet.

“Yes?” Shiro calls, “he was called in for a new mission.”

Allura and Coran have insisted that they don’t need to, but all of the humans feel the need to raise their voices when using this invisible sound-system communication.

“Ah, I see. I was wondering why his ship was preparing to leave,” Allura replies.

Preparing to leave? He was leaving now? Without saying goodbye?

“Ulaz is leaving?” Hunk asks.

“Princess,” Shiro shouts, “can you ask him to wait?”

“He didn’t say goodbye?” Pidge says, scandalized.

Shiro doesn’t reply, because Allura says ‘I’ll try’ and then Shiro’s running for the hangar. He’s scared Ulaz is going to leave without a goodbye.

By the time he reaches the hangar he’s _angry_.

He just ran out of training like a lovesick fool, in front of his team, and he ran across the castle to say bye to his boyfriend who _promised_ he would say goodbye before leaving and apparently lied to him and now Shiro is going to have to spend who knows how long with people dropping comments that they don’t like Ulaz or that maybe Ulaz doesn’t like Shiro as much as Shiro likes him.

The doors to the main hangar open as the engines on Ulaz’s ship roar to life, and he blasts off into space.

He didn’t wait.

Shiro's too embarrassed to go back to training, but he left Khaz with the others. Ulaz might walk out on him, but Shiro won't do that to his dog.

* * *

The gang tries to cheer him up. They’re all adamant on helping Shiro dog-proof his room and talking about all the ways they can make Khaz the best dog bed ever, or toys for her to play with, and how they’d all be happy to help with Khaz. Lance even came up with the genius idea to use a litter box for her. They spend a majority of the afternoon putting that together.

Shiro appreciates it, but he also hates that he’s being given all of this special attention because everyone knows that his boyfriend just walked out on him in a way that shows something’s not right.

Which is something Shiro’s still trying to wrap his head around. Had he and Ulaz been fighting? Shiro didn’t think so. Ulaz was taking time to warm up to Khaz, but they’d been fine just this morning? Ulaz had initiated a lot of stuff. There was no way he was mad at Shiro. So Shiro’s having a hard time understanding why his boyfriend would do something so cold and rude to him. It doesn’t seem like Ulaz, but then again Ulaz is a Galra. Maybe this is just how Galra are? They don’t think about other peoples’ feelings.

Shiro doesn’t even know if Ulaz will be able to call him, so he might have to wait weeks to talk about this.

They try to watch a movie— some alien film that they’ve watched dozens of times but still can’t understand, yet Allura and Coran love it— and Shiro joins in. It’s nice spending time with his friends. He doesn’t mean for it to happen, but Ulaz tends to take up most of his free time when he’s around. It’s comforting to hear Lance and Pidge making snarky comments, or Hunk’s infectious laugh. Keith even tries to get in on the teasing, but Shiro only hears it because Keith mumbles a lot and Shiro’s sitting beside him. Khaz squeaks at the loud noises and in one notable moment, when Pidge pinched Lance for saying something that she disagreed with, Lance shrieked and so did Khaz.

In the end it was a nice evening. Shiro excused himself early and took Khaz to bed with him.

As much as he likes being in his own room, with his own space where he can leave the lights on and not bother anyone, or thrash around in a nightmare and not worry about hurting anyone… he does like sleeping with Ulaz more. Despite everything and all the burdens Shiro has around sleeping alone, sleeping with someone else with him makes it all easier.

The first night without Ulaz is always the worst.

Shiro lies down on top of his blankets. Khaz is in her box beside his bed. He knows it’s not good to let dogs sleep in the bed, and she was only sleeping with him because Ulaz’s room is so cold. Shiro’s room is a much better temperature and she’ll be fine now.

She chirps softly and Shiro rolls over, resting his cheek on the edge of his mattress to look down at her. Her nose is wiggling like she’s sniffing for something.

Shiro can’t help but smile. God, she’s so cute. He reaches down to pet her tiny head with a finger. She chirps and jerks away, startled, and then starts crying. It’s a high-pitched crying sound that makes Shiro’s heart skip a beat. He scoops her up quickly and tucks her against his chest.

“I’m sorry Khaz,” he says, “it’s okay, it’s okay. It’s just me.”

It hasn’t been long at all and yet she’s a familiar weight in his hands, and a comforting small spot of heat against him when he holds her over his heart. Her little claws grip at the fabric of his shirt. She blinks up at him with four, bleary eyes.

She yawns, mouth wide and little tongue sticking out in a way that makes Shiro smile more. Khaz nuzzles against him and apparently goes back to sleep, but she’s still crying.

“What’s wrong?” Shiro asks out loud. Maybe she’s just upset at being woken up, and she’ll tire herself out. He decides to get under his blankets and lay down as if he was going to sleep too. Shiro’s not expecting a good rest, but he’ll make Khaz comfortable.

* * *

An hour later and it’s clear that Khaz will _not_ simply ‘tire herself out’. She’s getting louder and more fidgety. Shiro put her in her litterbox in case that was the issue; he put her back in her box if she was more comfortable there. He turned off the lights so it was dark. He can’t figure out why she won’t stop crying. She should be full, but maybe she’s still hungry? It’s unlikely but it’s the only other thing Shiro can think of.

He’s made up his mind to try another bottle of formula, when there’s a knock on the door. It’s Pidge.

“Is Khaz okay?” Pidge asks. She looks a little ragged, like she finally dragged herself out of bed. Pidge also has a room furthest from Shiro’s, so, that’s worrisome that she can hear Khaz from there. The others are probably trying to be polite and just ignore the loud puppy.

“Just hungry, I think,” Shiro says, “sorry for keeping you up.”

“Need help?” Pidge offers.

“I’m good,” Shiro assures her, “but thanks. You should get some sleep.”

Pidge is clearly half asleep as it is, and that’s why she doesn’t put up more of a fight and wanders back to her room without a rebuttal.

* * *

Shiro has gotten pretty handy at heating up the baby formula with one hand while holding Khaz in the other. Khaz’s crying is only getting louder. Shiro’s starting to think about waking Coran up. Maybe something’s wrong? Maybe Khaz is hurt somehow.

She wants nothing to do with the bottle and Shiro’s starting to get frustrated. Her constant whining is almost aggravating, but it’s scary too. He doesn’t know what’s wrong. He doesn’t know how to fix this.

Shiro knows Khaz hasn’t eaten anything but her formula and some water, all of which are fine for her species according to Coran. She’s been using the bathroom regularly, she’s been full of energy— or at least, her normal amount, since she’s still a baby and needs a lot of sleep.

Maybe this is just her having a cranky night.

Back on earth Shiro was usually up late every night. He remembers some times when friends who had their first children, would sometimes call or text him in the middle of the night because they were up with upset children and didn’t want to feel lonely in the witching hours of the night. It had never been anything meaningful, half the time the two of them would only say a few words as Shiro worked on projects or studied, but it was the comfort of having someone else there.

In any case, the common theme was walking the halls of the home with an irritated baby until the motion put it back to sleep. It’s a good thing Shiro never expected to sleep much tonight anyways. Khaz is shouting on every other whimper, clearly very mad about whatever’s bothering her, so Shiro holds her up against his collarbone like she’s a human baby to be burped, and starts meandering.

 

 

* * *

Wandering has never been one of Shiro’s strong suits. He likes purpose. Whether the purpose is ‘explore’ or ‘make a mental map’ or ‘find the fastest route’, it doesn’t matter. He keeps trying to make sure his purpose is ‘walk aimlessly until Khaz stops crying’, but he doesn’t know how to wander. Each hall has a specific purpose in his mind: this one leads to the lion hangars, this one goes to the mess hall, this one is the way Shiro goes to Ulaz’s room when he’s here, this is the route to the training room. And on and on and on. Shiro starts down one hall, realizes he’s going to a destination, and has to reorient his head that he’s not actually going anywhere. He’s just walking.

He makes a point to avoid areas where the others might hear Khaz. He wants them to have a good sleep at least.

“Are you mad cause he ditched us, too?” Shiro finally asks. If only for the sound of something other than Khaz’s whining.

It feels cathartic, so he continues, “He can be cold, it’s true. He’s pretty stoic. But that’s part of being raised by a secret cult thing, I guess. I thought he liked me, and he shows it. And I liked that it was more private. But I know that everyone else doesn’t see that side of him, so they only see Ulaz when he’s working and focused. And now everyone’s gonna think he’s an awful boyfriend, and I’m mad at him too, but I’m gonna have to defend him too.”

Shiro tries to bounce Khaz a little, remembering that weird bounce-walk his new-mother friends would use when soothing babies.

“I know he hasn’t been nice to you, but he just takes a while to warm up. I think he’s going to love you. And even if he doesn’t, I do.”

Shiro bends his head down to give Khaz a quick kiss on the head.

“I’m so mad at him for leaving,” Shiro groans, “without even saying goodbye! He promised! And it’s such a stupid thing to be mad about. Obviously there’s something really important that the Blades need him for, and I’m over here thinking I’m more important than his life's work, and I’m being so clingy and needy and probably annoying him so much that he didn’t want to say goodbye. He took off as soon as he could because I don’t give him any space and then I get mad at him when I bring a baby into the relationship without even talking to him.”

Shiro pauses a moment to kiss Khaz again, “I don’t regret getting you, ever.”

Khaz pauses in her whining to beep at him. It’s a new sound, and so startling that Shiro stops walking. She wiggles in his arms, making a mess of whining high-pitched noises, and excited beeps.

Shiro sets her on the ground before he drops her, and on her shaky, unsteady legs she starts waddling in a very determined direction.

“Lead the way,” Shiro offers. They’re in a hall that really has no purpose, it’s just more rooms for boarding or storage. Khaz’s nose is high in the air and her two stubby tails are sticking straight up. She’s taking big, stumbling strides.

Shiro follows curiously down the hall and waits as Khaz stops at the end, sniffing the air so hard that she loses balance a few times. It’s when she turns right, squeaking and whining and beeping, that Shiro realizes where she must be heading.

They’re near Ulaz’s room.

Shiro waits, watching Khaz waddle along and fall over as she works out how to move all four of her legs together, and holds his breath when she stops at the end of the hall that Ulaz’s room is on. She sniffs the air again, legs splayed wide to steady herself as she takes deep breaths. Her nose is wiggling madly. Then, she turns down the hall and heads for Ulaz’s room. She must be able to smell him.

It’s a very, very long walk for a little puppy. Shiro takes pity on her and picks her up, and goes to stand in front of the door.

“Is this is?” Shiro asks.

Khaz chips excitedly.

Shiro opens the door. The room is still chill, but the temperature control will be off in Ulaz’s absence so it’ll eventually go back to the same temperature as the ship. It’s dark, and void of anything that makes it look like anyone lives here. It could be any other room.

Khaz squeals and wiggles in Shiro’s grip.

“You’re looking for him?” Shiro asks, and for a moment there’s almost a sob in his throat. This is more than heartbreaking, “he’s not here.”

Khaz thrashes around so Shiro goes into the room to show her.

“He’s gone on a mission right now,” Shiro explains, showing her that the room is empty and Ulaz isn’t hiding anywhere, “he’ll be back in a while but he’s not here.”

It feels heavy to say that, standing in Ulaz’s dark room. Shiro doesn’t like the way it makes him feel so wretchedly miserable. ‘Ulaz isn’t here’. Shiro should be fine. This is just how their relationship is, but he… he…

Shiro’s legs are sore from wandering, and he all but collapses on the bed. Khaz tumbles off of him, and wanders up towards the pillows, sniffing. Shiro watches her go.

“You miss him?” he asks. He rolls over and pulls himself up the bed, lying on his side as if the two of them are just waiting for Ulaz to come home.

Shiro doesn’t have a nose for scents, not like Ulaz or Khaz do, but there’s something about this bed, the room even, that smells comforting. It’s got a hint of Ulaz to it that makes it feel like he might be back at any time. Shiro lifts the edge of the blanket and Khaz craws under. Her upset whining has turned into happy squeaks.

It’s weird to be in Ulaz’s room without him. It almost feels like trespassing.

“I think we’ll be okay for one night,” Shiro says. The room is still chilly enough that Shiro’s starting to shiver. He follows Khaz under the blankets. She curls up against his side.

Shiro reaches out to snag Ulaz’s pillow, pulling it against himself so he can hug it. This is so pathetic, but he’s already here. It’s as close as he’s going to get to holding his boyfriend for a while.

Khaz snores softly, Shiro can hear her as she breathes. He presses his face against Ulaz’s pillow. It does smell like him. Shiro’s still not sure how he’s feeling about Ulaz right now— but he can’t help but smile. He likes Ulaz so much.

“I miss him too,” Shiro admits.

He likes to imagine that Khaz beeps in agreement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aww Shiro. Long distance relationships are hard.
> 
> Next up: Ulaz's pov!


End file.
